KUALA LUMPUR, July 17 (Bernama) — Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi today said he is ready to explore cooperation with several public universities to enable RISDA smallholders' children participating in Tuisyen Rakyat to experience university life before sitting for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination.
The Rural and Regional Development Minister said that this initiative aims to boost the motivation of these young students to pursue higher education.
He said that such an initiative has been implemented in his Bagan Datuk parliamentary constituency for over 20 years, resulting in many SPM leavers from the constituency gaining university entry due to the motivation provided by this approach.
"During the long semester breaks at public universities, I want these tuition class students to be brought to campuses and stay in colleges or dormitories to experience campus life before they sit for the SPM exam.
“Insya-Allah, I will continue this with several university Vice Chancellors, and I will inform the RISDA chairman to proceed with it,” he said when officiating the Excellent Students Appreciation Ceremony of RISDA's Tuisyen Rakyat Programme Year 2023 here
Also present were RISDA chairman Manndzri Nasib and the newly appointed Ministry of Rural and Regional Development (KKDW) secretary-general, Datuk Mohd Khair Razman Mohamed.
Ahmad Zahid noted that since its implementation under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (RMK-9), the Tuisyen Rakyat programme has shown its effectiveness in improving students' academic performance.
“Education is the fastest element of social mobility to change the living standards of poor families. I urge parents, even if we live in villages or rural areas, to see these children as assets. Most importantly, they will be part of the vertical social mobility movement.
“When we embrace vertical social mobility, believe that these students will enter higher education institutions, and never underestimate technical courses. This is why this tuition programme provides an additional STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) syllabus,” he said.
Furthermore, Ahmad Zahid said KKDW allocated RM4.16 million to the Rubber Industry Smallholders Development Authority (RISDA) for the RISDA Tuisyen Rakyat programme last year.
He said the allocation benefited 3,000 students across 200 tuition centres nationwide, with the commitment of 1,000 teachers.
“They are assets to the children or grandchildren of RISDA smallholders, and I want to see the effectiveness of this programme, not just celebrating a small number of students who achieve 12A, 10A, or above. That is not enough.
“Therefore, I want the 2024 SPM results announced next year to show more than a 100 percent improvement compared to the 2023 results,” he said.
— BERNAMA
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